Ml  ' 

* 


SLAVERY 


I,1  (iff! 


MERE  PRETEXT  FOR  THE  REBELLION; 

NOT  ITS  CAUSE. 


ANDREW  JACKSON’S  PROPHECY  IN  1833, 


HIS  LAST  WILL  AND  TESTAMENT  IN  1843. 


BEQUESTS  OF  HIS  THREE  SWORDS: 


HIS  SOLEMN  INJUNCTION  TO  WIELD  THEM  11  IN  SUPPORT  OF  OUR  GLORIOUS 
UNION”  AGAINST  ALL  ASSAILANTS,  WHETHER  li  FOREIGN 


ENEMIES  OR  DOMESTIC  TRAITORS.' 


PICTURE  OF  THE  CONSPIRACY. 

DRAWN  IN  18  63, 

BY  A  SOUTHERN  MAN. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

C.  SHERMAN,  SON  &  CO.,  PRINTERS. 

186  3. 


THE  SWORDS  OF  GEN.  JACKSON. 


The  following  article  is  copied  from  a  Kentucky  paper  [The  Louisville 
Journal ),  in  which  it  appeared  at  an  early  stage  of  the  Rebellion.  It  is  from 
the  pen  of  one  whose  name  often  occurs  in  Parton’s  Life  of  Jackson ,  in  con¬ 
nections  showing  the  affectionate  confidence  entertained  for  him  by  the  old 
hern  of  the  Hermitage.  Although  specially  addressed  at  that  juncture  to  the 
people  of  Tennessee,  with  reference  to  the  efforts  then  making  by  the  con¬ 
spirators  to  trepan  that  State  into  subserviency  to  their  scheme  of  treason,  the 
question  here  put  will  at  once  be  felt  by  every  true  American  heart  to  be  one 
for  which  it  has  a  ready  answer. 

The  prediction  of  “Old  Hickory,”  here  seen  to  have  been  made  by  him 
thirty  years  ago,  as  to  what  would  be  “  the  next  pretext  ”  used  by  the  con¬ 
spirators  then  already  known  by  him  to  be  plotting  the  destruction  of  “  the 
only  good  Government  on  the  globe,”  in  order  that  they  might  build  up  their 
“  Southern  Confederacy”  upon  their  country’s  ruins.  That  prediction  forms  a 
1  fitting  introduction  to  the  more  recent  character  and  designs  of  the  same  con-* 
spiracy,  as  depicted  in  the  following  pages  by  Paul  Ambrose  : 


To  the  Editors  of  the  Louisville  Journal: 

“  Never  take  the  field  unless  the  Star-spangled  Banner  of  your  Country 
floats  over  your  head .” 

You  have  recently  reproduced  the  above  words  of  Andrew  Jackson,  ad¬ 
dressed  during  the  secession-ordinance  days  of  thirty  years  ago,  to  the  people 
of  South  Carolina,  his  native  State,  as  he  believed,  and  as  we  all  believed, 
until  his  biographer  Parton  established  the  title  of  North  Carolina  to  the  honor 
of  having  given  the  “old  Roman”  to  our  country.  Your  reproduction  of 
them  has  suggested  to  me  to  send  you  some  other  words  of  his,  no  less  perti¬ 
nent  to  the  solemnity  of  the  present  crisis  in  that  country’s  fate.  A  photo¬ 
graphic  facsimile  of  the  original  letter  (of  the  entire  letter,  which  is  quite  a 
long  one)  has  come  into  my  possession.  No  one  acquainted  with  General 
Jackson’s  handwriting — and  I  am  perfectly  so — could  hesitate  to  make  oath 
to  its  genuineness.  Upon  first  seeing  it,  the  gentleman  who  sent  it  to  me 
having  stated  in  .the  note  accompanying  it  that  he  “inclosed  a  copy  of  Gen. 
Jackson’s  letter,”  I  exclaimed  to  my  family,  “Why  he  has  made  a  mistake  and 
sent  me  the  very  letter  itself;  I  will  swear  to  this  being  the  General’s  hand¬ 
writing,  every  word  of  it,”  In  truth,  however,  it  is  only  a  facsimile  taken  by 
the  photographic  process.  A  UNION  MAN. 


U  OS. 


) 

«^o 

A 


«V\Vt\  \ 

K^s 


[  From  the  National  Intelligencer,  Washington,  March  1863.  ] 


THE  SLAVE  HUESTION 


A  PRETEX' 


TO  LEAD  THE  MASSES  ON  TO  REVOLUTION, 


u> 

r* 


Southern  Ambition— The  Climax  Rebellion. 

The  aspiration  of  Southern  ambition  which  has  reached  to  the 
climax  of  rebellion,  was  not  the  growth  of  a  month  or  a  year. 
Those  who  have  watched  the  course  of  public  events  and  noted 
the  development  of  opinion  in  the  South  for  years  past  have  seen 
many  signs  of  the  coming  peril ;  and,  if  the  country  was  not 
prepared  for  it,  it  was  not  for  want  of  an  occasional  warning. 
Everybody  knew  there  were  restless  spirits  in  the  South  who 
would  rejoice  in  the  opportunity  to  destroy  the  Union,  and  that 
these  were  endeavoring  to  create  a  sectional  sentiment  that 
might  favor  the  accomplishment  of  their  wish.  But  the  common 
faith  of  the  country  in  the  patriotism  of  the  people  of  the  South, 
and  the  profound  conviction  of  the  whole  North,  and  we  may  say 
also  of  the  larger  part  of  the  Southern  communities,  that  no 
motive  existed  which  could  possibly  stir  up  the  people  of  any 
State  to  the  mad  enterprise  of  assailing  the  integrity  of  the 
Union,  dispelled  every  apprehension  on  this  score.  The  public 
generally  regarded  the  danger  as  a  chimera.  Even  the  Govern¬ 
ment,  which  ought  to  have  been  distrustful  enough  to  put  itself 
on  guard,  seemed  to  be  utterly  unconscious  of  the  gathering 
trouble.  Never  was  a  country  taken  so  much  at  unawares. 

The  year  1860  was  one  of  great  prosperity.  The  nation  ex¬ 
hibited  something  more  than  its  customary  light-heartedness,  and 
had  risen  into  a  tone  of  hilarity  from  the  peculiar  excitements  of 
the  year.  The  spring  was  occupied  with  the  celebrations  of  the 


4TW1 


advent  of  the  Japanese  Embassy,  which  signalized  the  enlarge¬ 
ment  of  our  commerce  with  the  East,  and  autumn  was  filled  with 
pageants  to  welcome  the  heir  of  the  British  throne,  whose  visit 
was  regarded  as  an  event  of  national  congratulation  that  pro¬ 
mised  long  peace  and  happy  fellowship  with  the  world — a  token 
of  new  strength  and  greater  influence  to  the  Republic.  It  was 
a  year  distinguished  by  public  demonstrations  of  faith  and  hope 
in  the  future  destiny  of  the  country.  Few  persons  were  willing 
to  believe,  or  allowed  themselves  to  think,  that,  whilst  we  were 
thus  increasing  the  popularity  of  the  nation  abroad  and  inaugu¬ 
rating  an  era  of  remarkable  prqmise  to  the  advantage  of  our 
foreign  and  domestic  interests,  there  was  any  considerable  party 
amongst  us  who  could  harbor  the  parricidal  design  of  crushing 
these  brilliant  hopes  in  the  destruction  of  the  country  itself;  or 
that  the  band  of  political  agitators,  to  whom  the  public  was  ac¬ 
customed  to  impute  such  a  design,  could  so  infatuate  their  fol¬ 
lowers  as  to  prevail  with  them  to  attempt  it.  It  was  in  this 
state  of  confident  security,  and  in  the  very  midst  of  these  peace¬ 
ful  manifestations,  that  the  storm  broke  upon  the  country.  Never 
was  a  nation  so  utterly  unprepared  for  such  an  event. 

Notwithstanding  this  dissonance  between  the  tone  of  public 
feeling  at  that  time,  and  the  terrific  incident  which  grated  upon 
it  with  such  inopportune  discord,  the  rebellion  was  a  predestined 
fact  which  came  at  its  appointed  day.  The  year,  the  month, 
almost  the  week  of  its  explosion  had  been  determined  in  councils 
held  long  before ;  and  the  plot  had  no  regard  to  the  barometer  of 
national  sentiment,  indifferent  alike  to  the  good  will  which  de¬ 
lights  in  establishing  peace,  or  that  more  congenial  mood  which 
promotes  quarrel. 

It  was  foreordained  that  the  Presidential  election  of  1860 
should  furnish,  not  the  occasion,  but  the  day  of  dissolution. 

Let  us  endeavor  to  extract  from  the  history  of  the  times  and 
our  own  observation  of  the  character  of  our  people  what  we  can 
find  to  solve  this  problem.  It  has  grown  to  be  almost  a  univer¬ 
sally  accepted  fact  on  the  northern  side  of  Mason  and  Dixon’s 
line  that  slavery  is  the  cause  of  the  rebellion.  This  is  so  broadly 
received  that  the'  corollary  derived  from  it  seems,  at  this  time, 
to  be  the  axiom  upon  which  the  special  friends  of  the  Adminis¬ 
tration  are  endeavoring  to  direct  the  conduct  of  the  war  to  put 


3 


the  rebellion  down.  Slavery  being  the  cause  of  the  rebellion, 
the  war,  it  is  said,  must  be  aimed  at  the  extinction  of  slavery. 
With/them  it  would  appear  to  be  no  longer  a  point  to  compel  the 
insurgents  to  submit  to  the  laws  and  return  to  their  allegiance ; 
but  rather  to  act  on  the  assumption  that  no  peace  is  desirable 
which  leaves  slavery  an  existing  institution. 

Slavery  not  in  danger— The  Leaders  knew  it.— The  Masses  were 

Deceived. 

I  think  this  view  of  the  origin  of  our  troubles  requires  some 
qualification.  Slavery,  of  itself  and  for  itself,  is  not  the  cause 
of  the  rebellion.  I  do  not  believe  that  there  was  one  intelligent, 
leading,  and  thinking  man  in  the  South,  when  this  rebellion  broke 
out,  who  imagined  that  slavery  was  in  any  kind  of  danger  either 
from  the  action  of  the  National  Government  or  the  State  Govern¬ 
ments  ;  nor  that  it  could  be  successfully  assailed  by  the  hostility 
that  was  exhibited  against  it  in  the  public  or  private  opinion  of 
Northern  society.  I  think  that  astute  Southern  statesmen  were 
and  are  perfectly  convinced  that  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  embracing  both  National  and  State  organizations,  afforded 
an  impregnable  security  to  the  institution  of  slavery,  which  no 
power  on  this  continent,  in  its  lawful  course  of  administration, 
could  disturb.  And,  moreover,  that  the  guarantees  which  these 
organizations  combined  offer  to  that  institution  are  not  only  en¬ 
tirely  adequate  to  its  protection,  but  are  such  as  no  government 
ever  before  supplied;  and  such  also  as  no  government,  of  the 
same  scope  of  jurisdiction  and  power,  w’ould  ever  again  agree  to 
make.  It  is  the  merest  sham  and  make-believe  for  any  Southern 
man  to  pretend  that  the  institution  of  slavery  was  ever  brought 
into  peril  before  this  rebellion  exposed  it  to  the  dangers  that  now 
surround  it.  I  can  hardly  suppose  that  any  man  of  sense  in  the 
South'  could  believe  otherwise  than  that  a  war,  once  provoked  be¬ 
tween  the  States,  would  be  the  only  effective  agency  which  could 
destroy  or  impair  it  against  the  will  and  without  the  co-operation 
of  the  Slave  States  themselves. 

Slavery  may  be  said  to  be  the  cause  of  the  rebellion  only  in 
the  same  sense  in  which  we  may  affirm  that  cotton  and  sugar  are 
the  cause  of  it,  or  that  Southern  character,  habits,  climate,  and 
social  life  are  the  sources  out  of  which  it  has  sprung. 


4 


The,  Agitation  of  the  Slave  Question  a  pretext.— Its  Operation  on 
the  Excitable  Masses  of  the  South. 

The  agitations  of  the  slave  question  were  only  ostensibly  the 
motives  to  rebellion.  They  were  the  means  made  use  of  to  give 
pretext  and  consistency  to  the  scheme.  With  the  unthinking  or 
excitable  masses  of  the  South,  it  is  true,  these  agitations  were 
the  principal  incentives  to  revolt.  They  furnished  them  a  ready 
argument,  and  made  the  threat  of  breaking  up  the  Union  familiar 
to  the  Southern  mind,  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  popular.  They 
had  something  of  the  same  effect  upon  portions  of  the  people  of 
the  North  ;  for  the  aversion  to  the  Union  was  not  alone  harbored 
in  the  South.  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  extreme  opinions  on  this 
subject,  preached  and  written  by  a  sect  in  New  England,  had  a 
most  pernicious  influence  in  extending  the  thought  of  dissolution 
through  the  South.  There  was  an  equal  fanaticism  on  both  sides, 
quite  as  evident  in  favor  of  slavery  in  one  section  as  against  it  in 
the  other.  Secessionists  and  abolitionists,  in  the  ultra  phases  of 
their  respective  demands,  were  in  full  accord  as  to  the  ultimate 
remedy  of  the  grievances  they  imagined  themselves  to  suffer. 
It  was  curious  to  see  how,  in  ascending  the  gamut  of  their  op¬ 
posite  extravagances,  the  two  parties  kept  pace  with  each  other 
on  the  scale  of  which  the  highest  note  on  each  side  was  disunion. 
Both  North  and  South  were,  at  the  beginning,  in  harmony  in  ad¬ 
mitting  slavery  to  be  a  social  evil  which  was  to  be  considerately 
dealt  with  and  abandoned  when  that  could  be  done  without  injury 
to  existing  interests.  From  this  point  Southern  enthusiasts  di¬ 
verged  in  one  direction,  Northern  in  another.  With  one,  slavery 
rose  to  be  asserted  successively  as  a  harmless  utility,  as  a  bless¬ 
ing,  a  divine  institution,  and,  finally,  as  “the  corner-stone  re¬ 
jected  by  the  builders,”  upon  which  a  new  dynasty  was  to  be 
constructed,  and  our  old  cherished  Union  to  be  dashed  into  frag¬ 
ments.  With  the  other,  always  comparatively  few’  and  insignifi¬ 
cant  in  point  of  numbers  and  influence  it  is  true,  slavery,  passing 
through  equal  grades,  W’as  declared  to  be  a  disgrace ;  a  great 
national  sin ;  a  special  curse  of  Heaven,  and,  at  last,  a  stigma 
that  made  the  Union  “  a  covenant  of  hell which,  therefore,  should 
be  shattered  to  atoms  to  give  place  to  another  order  of  polity. 
The  two  opposite  lines  thus  converged  in  the  same  point,  that  of 


f 


5 


dissolution.  This  is  the  extreme  boundary  to  which  a  passionate 
monomania  has  at  last  conducted  the  agitations  of  thirty  years  of 
the  subject  of  slavery.  The  irritation  produced  by  this  persever¬ 
ing  and  angry  reverberation  of  the  question,  from  side  to  side, 
undoubtedly  prepared  the  people  of  t{ie  South  for  the  explosion 
of  1860,  and  equally  prepared  the  people  of  the  North  for  a 
prompt  resentment  against  it;  and  thus  misled  the  popular  opinion 
on  both  sides  to  regard  the  slavery  question  as  the  immediate 
source  of  the  attempt  at  revolution.  But  the  contrivers,  the 
heads  and  leaders  of  the  scheme,  had  a  much  deeper  purpose 
than  the  redress  of  any  imagined  danger  to  the  security  of  the 
institution.  They  only  took  advantage  of  the  common  sensibility 
of  their  people  on  this  subject  to  aid  them  in  a  design  of  much 
wider  import. 

We  may  find  a  guide  to  our  investigation  of  this  design  in  a 
review  of  the  composition  and  character  of  Southern  society. 

Southern  Character  Analyzed. 

It  is  not  always  a  gracious  task  to  analyze  national  character, 
and  particularly  when  our  own  countrymen  are  in  question.  If, 
therefore,  I  should  be  thought  too  “  candid”  in  what  I  am  about 
to  write,  I  hope  I  shall  find  my  warrant  in  the  sincere  respect  I 
entertain  for  the  many  excellent  traits- of  Southern  character, 
and  still  more  in  the  esteem  with  which  I  cherish  the  memory  of 
many  personal  friends  in  whom  I  have  found  everything  to  ad¬ 
mire  and  really  nothing  to  blame — except,  indeed,  the  facility 
with  which  they  have  yielded  to  the  delusion  which  carried  them 
into  this  rebellion. 

If  I  were  asked  to  describe  in  a  word  the  primal  source  or 
germ  out  of  which  this  commotion  has  sprung,  I  would  say  it  was 
the  egotism  of  Southern  character.  There  are  no  people  in  the 
world  who  have  a  higher  opinion  of  themselves  and  of  their  sur¬ 
roundings  than  the  inhabitants  of  certain  districts  of  the  South. 
They  are  accustomed  to  speak  of  themselves  as  possessing  the 
very  highest  type  of  civilization ;  as  pre-eminent  in  all  the  quali¬ 
ties  of  generous  manhood;  as  hospitable,  frank,  brave  beyond  all 
other  people ;  quick  to  resent  dishonor  ;  keen  in  their  perception 
of  what  is  great  or  noble  ;  refined  and  elegant  in  manners.  They 
claim,  besides,  superior  talent,  more  acute  insight,  and  higher 


V 


6 


energy  than  their  neighbors.  They  are  prolific  in  statesmen, 
orators,  and  politicians.  They  are  manly,  truthful,  and  cheval- 
resque.  This  is  the  portrait  they  draw  of  themselves. 

i 

How  and  Why  they  Hate  the  Yankees. 

Nowt,  I  do  not  mean  to  dispute  these  pretensions.  The  South 
possesses,  in  marked  degree,  many  of  these  excellent  qualities, 
and  I  would  not  disparage  their  claim  to  any  of  them,  because  I 
think  that  the  very  assertion  of  such  a  claim  is  the  proof  of  an 
appreciation  of  these  virtues,  which  in  itself  is  a  merit  of  good 
omen.  It  shows  the  tendency  of  their  aspirations,  which  is  one 
good  step  towards  success  in  accomplishing  them.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  we  may  remark  that  this  self-esteem,  whilst  it  exalts 
its  possessors,  is  apt  in  the  same  degree  to  breed  opinions  dero¬ 
gatory  of  all  other  people  outside  of  their  boundary.  The  South 
accordingly  has  its  aversions,  and  amongst  these  nothing  is  more 
conspicuous  than  the  dislike  of  the  common  masses  of  the  Southern 
people — I  speak  more  particularly  of  the  untravelled  portion  of 
them — to  the  natives  of  the  New  England  States.  This  dislike 
is  as  old  as  the  colonial  era.  Even  in  the  Revolutionary  war  of 
1776,  if  it  did  not  impair  the  sturdy  union  of  effort  which  won 
the  victory,  it  bred  minor  dissensions  and  vexatious  jealousies. 
The  application  of  the  word  “Yankee”  was  even  then,  as  it  is 
now,  an  expression  of  the  derision  with  which  the  man  of  the 
South  regarded  the  man  of  New  England.  It  signified  at  that 
day,  and  long  afterwards,  in  the  vulgar  apprehension,  a  shrewd, 
cunning  chapman,  who  invariably  outwitted  the  credulous 
Southron  in  a  bargain.  It  has  lost  something  of  this  Significance 
in  these  later  times,  since  the  credulous  Southron  has  grown 
more  worldly,  and  developed  some  of  the  qualities  of  an  expert 
chapman  himself.  It  now  rather  indicates  the  hatred  engendered 
by  jealousy  of  New  England  growth  and  prosperity. 

In  a  sober  estimate  of  all  these  characteristics,  which  it  is 
hardly  necessary  to  say  are  not  to  be  attributed  to  the  most  cul¬ 
tivated  and  liberal  men  of  the  South,  we  may  set  down  both  the 
self-esteem  and  the  aversion  I  have  described  to  the  account  of 
that  provincial  vanity  and  prejudice  which  are  always  observed 
in  isolated  communities,  and  which,  I  think,  are  also,  in  some 
degree,  distinctive  of  a  simply  agricultural  people. 


\ 


All  Northern  People  are  now  called  Yankees. 

This  popular  dislike  of  the  North,  unreasonable  and  trivial  as 
it  is,  has  had  a  good  deal  to  do  with  the  aggravation  of  the  temper 
which  has  fomented  the  rebellion.  It  quickened  the  jealousy  of 
the  South  against  every  political  movement  in  the  country  that 
indicated  the  probability  of  Northern  control  in  the  Government. 
Every  revelation  made  by  the  census  of  the  growing  prepon¬ 
derance  of  Northern  population — by  which  I  mean  the  population 
of  the  Free  States  in  general — was  received  by  the  South  as  the 
announcement  of  a  rapidly  advancing  era  when  Southern  domina¬ 
tion  must  give  way  to  Northern — when  the  sceptre  must  depart 
from  Judah. 

The  South  always  afraid  of  Northern  Presidents.  Jefferson’s  Let¬ 
ter  to  John  Taylor  of  Caroline,  in  1798,  referring  to  a  “Scission 
of  the  Union,”  which  he  declared  Unlawful.  With  the  Eight  to 
Secede,  no  Federal  Government  could  ever  Exist. 

I  think  we  have  very  clear  "proof  that  at  no  time  since  the 
adoption  of  the  Constitution  were  the  politicians  of  the  South 
disposed  to  tolerate  the  election  of  a  Northern  President,  unless 
they  had  a  satisfactory  assurance  that  he  would  administer  the 
Government  in  obedience  to  their  dictation,  or  at  least  conforma¬ 
bly  to  their  views  of  policy.  In  the  time  of  the  elder  Adams 
there  was  a  settled,  and  even  an  exasperated  opposition  to  him, 
which  threatened  to  break  up  the  Government,  on  this  ground. 
Mr.  Jefferson  evidently  alluded  to  this  scheme,  in  his  letter  to 
John  Taylor  of  Caroline,  in  1798,  in  which  he  wrote  an  argument 
to  discourage  it — manifestly  as  an  answer  to  some  suggestions  on 
that  subject  from  his  correspondent.  His  argument,  I  may  re¬ 
mark,  in  passing,  was  equally  against  the  right  and  the  policy  of 
such  a  proceeding.  Referring  to  the  “scission  of  the  Union”  as 
a  supposed  lawful  resort,  he  declares  that  with  it  “  no  Federal 
Government  could  ever  exist.”  There  are  many  proofs  now  ex¬ 
tant  besides  this  of  the  reluctance  of  the  Southern  States  to  allow 
any  influence  but  their  own  to  predominate  in  the  Government, 
even  in  that  age  of  our  republic,  when  it  wTas  not  pretended  that 
any  Southern  right  wa's  brought  into  jeopardy  either  by  the 
National  or  State  authorities  or  by  the  temper  of  private  opinion. 


8 


The  objection  to  Northern  rule  was  simply  founded  on  the  pride 
of  Southern  ambition. 

The  Preponderance  of  Southern  Influence  Gone.  The  Union  there¬ 
fore  no  longer  to  be  Endured. 

It  is  only  necessary  to  reflect  ypon  the  restiveness  of  Southern 
politicians  of  the  last  and  the  present  generation,  and  to  observe 
the  solicitude  with  which  they  have  always  contemplated  any 
invasion  of  their  own  supremacy  in  the  Government,  and  the 
importunate  zeal  with  which  they  have  insisted  upon  preserving 
an  equilibrium  between  Free  and  Slave  States' — meaning  by  that, 
the  preponderance  of  Southern  influence — to  be  convinced  that 
the  perpetuity  of  their  control  of  the  Administration  has  been  the 
leading  idea  of  their  policy.  The  threat  of  disunion  has  been  the 
customary  persuasion  by  which  they  have,  from  time  to  time, 
endeavored  to  subdue  the  first  symptoms  of  disaffection  to  their 
ascendency.  This  had  become  the  familiar  terror  of  every  Presi¬ 
dential  canvass  since  the  great  flurry  of  nullification  in  1832; 
and,  in  fact,  its  frequency  had  made  it  so  stale  that  when,  at  last,  c 

the  danger  was  really  imminent,  the  country  was  incredulous  of 
the  event,  as  much  from  derision  of  the  threat  as  a  worn-out 
trick,  as  from  the  common  conviction  that  no  cause  had  arisen  to  * 

provoke  it. 

Looking  at  the  various  pretexts  upon  which,  as  occasion 
prompted,  this  disunion  was  threatened — the  tariff,  the  naviga¬ 
tion  laws,  the  distribution  of  patronage,  the  Texas  question,  the 
i  admission  of  California,  the  Kansas  organization,  the  Territories 
— all  of  which  have  been  used  in  turn  by  the  Cotton  States  to 
frighten  the  nation  with  the  danger  of  rupture,  we  have  in  these  r 

the  most  perspicuous  guide  to  the  true  motives  of  the  breach  of 
1861.  The  fact  was  then  at  last  demonstrated  that  the  hour  was 
at  hand  when  other  interests  in  the  country  were  to  have  a  hear¬ 
ing  and  an  influence,  and  that  the  majority  of  the  nation  meant 
to  govern  it ;  that  the  South  must  take  its  due  and  proper  place 
in  the  Union  and  relinquish  its  ambition  of  undivided  empire. 

That  long-feared  and  long-warded-off  day  had  come ;  and  with  it 
came  the  first  real,  unfeigned,  absolute  purpose  of  the  partisan 
politicians  of  the  Southern  States  in  combination  to  separate  the  s 
South  from  the  North,  and  to  attempt  to  build  up  a  power  at 


9 


home,  in  which  Southern  politics  and  Southern  ambition  should 
have  undisputed  sway.  The  Union  was  enjoyed  as  long  as  it 
ministered  to  the  ascendency  of  the  Planting  States,  but  was  to 
be  cast  off  as  soon  as  the  nation  reached  that  epoch  in  its  pro¬ 
gress  at  which  it  was  able  to  release  itself  from  the  thraldom  of 
sectional  control,  and  to  regulate  its  policy  in  accordance  with  the 
demands  of  the  general  welfare. 


Intense  Selfishness  of  the  Disunion  Plot. 

Never  was  the  selfishness,  which  is  the  proverbial  sin  of  poli¬ 
ticians  and  the  common  imputation  against  corporate  bodies, 
which  the  nobler  qualities  of  individual  manhood  scorns  and  the  * 
morality  of  social  life  condemns,  more  conspicuously  illustrated 
than  in  this  example  furnished  by  a  people  who  boast  not  less  of 
their  honor  than  of  their  statesmanship.  During  a  period  of 
seventy  years  the  oldest  of  these  States — and  the  younger  from 
the  date  of  their  organization — had  drawn  from  the  Union  a 
power  and  prosperity  they  never  could  have  obtained  alone.  It  is 
not  too  much  to  affirm  that  they  are  indebted  to  the  Union  for 
everything  which  has  made  their  position  in  the  eye  of  the  world 
worthy  of  consideration  as  a  national  power.  To  the  Union  the 
greater  part  of  them  owe  their  very  existence :  all  owe  to  it  their 
protection  and  defence,  their  flourishing  commerce,  their  ready 
and  cheap  supply  of  manufactures,  their  conveniences  of  luxurious 
or  comfortable  life :  they  owe  to  the  Union  in  great  degree  their 
internal  improvements,  and  in  no  small  proportion  their  most 
active  and  intelligent  population.  And  now,  conceiving  that 
they  have  attained  to  a  strength  which  will  enable  them  to  secure 
these  advantages  from  their  own  resources,  they  do  not  hesitate 
to  renounce  their  most  sacred  obligations  of  duty  and  obedience 
for  the  illusion  of  a  national  independence,  which,  whatever  may 
be  its  import  upon  their  own  fortunes,  they  persuade  themselves 
cannot  be  anything  else  than  destruction  to  the  prosperity  of 
the  comrades  they  seek  to  abandon. 

It  is  lamentable  to  see  this  false  estimate  of  duty  in  any  sec¬ 
tion,  but  our  regret  is  increased  by  the  surprise  with  which  we 
discover  so  many  persons  in  the  border  States  who  have  allowed 
themselves  to  think  that,  in  following  the  lead  of  these  counsel- 


10 


lors,  they  will  ever  find  any  adequate  compensation  for  the  sacri- 
m  fice  they  make  of  the  long  career  of  happy  fortune  opened  to 
them  by  the  protection  of  'the  Union. 

What  is  the  Real  Motive  ?  Dominion,  Empire. 

What,  we  are  now  ready  to  ask,  is  the  real  motive  for  seeking 
this  independence  ?  Can  it  be  for  any  advantage  which  a  State 
of  the  Union,  and  especially  any  State  within  the  compass  of  the 
old  thirteen,  could  lawfully  and  honorably  demand  from  its  asso¬ 
ciates  in  the  Confederacy  ? 

In  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  there  was  a  plighted  faith 
volunteered  by  every  member  of  the  Union  to  observe  and  keep 
*  every  covenant  expressed  in  that  instrument.  Each  State  relied 
upon  the  faith  and  honor  of  its  sister  State,  and  upon  the  pledge 
of  the  whole  people  of  the  United  States  to  abide  by  the  terms 
of  that  great  compact,  and  to  perform  every  duty  it  exacted  of 
them.  In  fraternal  reliance  upon  that  honor,  each  and  every 
State  committed  itself  to  all  the  responsibilities  the  Union  im¬ 
posed.  Each  willingly  assumed  these  responsibilities,  in  full 
confidence  that  no  one  would  ever  shrink  from  its  share  in  the 
participation  of  the  common  duty,  but  that  all  would  religiously 
discharge  every  obligation  of  the  compact.  There  was  thus  a 
perfect  assurance  given  to  the  nation  that  whilst  all  enjoyed  the 
profit,  the  prosperity,  and  the  glory  of  the  Union,  all  would 
equally  adopt  its  burdens,  and  make  whatever  necessary  sacrifice 
of  individual  or  State  advantage  the  common  good  might  require. 
This  is,  in  effect,  the  nature  of  the  social  compact  presented  by 
the  Constitution.  Certainly,  we  may  say  that,  after  entering 
into  such  an  engagement  as  this,  no  State  nor  section  of  the 
people  could,  without  great  dishonor  and  breach  of  faith,  refuse 
and  abandon  the  performance  of  their  stipulated  obligations  to 
their  compeers,  merely  for  the  sake  of  making  themselves  inde¬ 
pendent.  Even  if  there  were  an  admitted  right  to  retire,  every 
consideration  of  justice  would  impose  upon  the  malcontent  frag¬ 
ment  the  duty  of  appealing  to  the  rest  who  composed  the  body 
politic  for  their  consent  to  a  measure  which  must  necessarily  be 
an  injury  to  them.  How  much  more  imperative  is  the  duty  of 
such  an  appeal  when  no  such  right  to  withdraw  is  contained  in  the 
compact,  and  when  the  proceeding,  unless  sanctioned  by  the 


11 


general  consent  of  the  nation,  could  only  be  classed  in  the  cate¬ 
gory  of  revolution?  To  make  a  decent  case  of  justification  for 
revolution,  every  tribunal  of  moral  law  or  enlightened  opinion 
would  hold  that,  as  a  preliminary  fact,  that  consent  should  be 
asked  and  refused ;  and  moreover,  that  the  insurgent  party 
should  be  able  to  show  such  a  violation  of  compact  by  the  offend¬ 
ing  Government  as  to  produce  intolerable  oppression,  for  which 
no  remedy  was  to  be  found  but  that  of  separation. 

Now,  nothing  is  more  clear  than  that  neither  of  these  condi¬ 
tions  existed.  There  was  no  consent  sought  for  or  expected  ;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  a  haste  in  rushing  into  rebellion,  which  one 
might  almost  believe  was  intended  to  prevent  the  risk  of  either 
consent  or  conciliation.  The  conductors  of  the  movement  seemed 
to  think,  in  the  words  of  Sir  Lucius  O’Trigger,  “  The  quarrel  is 
a  very  pretty  quarrel  as  it  stands — we  should  only  spoil  it  by 
trying  to  explain  it.”  There  was  no  intolerable  oppression, 
or  indeed  oppression  of  any  kind.  The  utmost  point  to  which 
any  mover  of  the  sedition  went,  was  to  affirm  that  it  was 
feared  there  might  be  some  oppression  hereafter — though  that 
was  not  very  intelligibly  made  out  in  the  result  of  the  Pre¬ 
sidential  election,  which  proved  the  successful  party  to  be  in  a 
minority  of  the  whole  vote  of  the  country.  We  had  heard,  it  is 
true,  a  great  deal  about  the  iniquity  of  import  duties  and  protec¬ 
tion  of  domestic  industry :  but  these  were  only  the  common 
resources  of  all  Governments ;  and  indeed,  when  it  concerned 
Southern  interests,  were  the  special  requisitions  of  Southern 
policy,  which  always  insisted  on  the  protection  of  sugar  and  cot¬ 
ton,  and  in  past  times  demanded  the  highest  duties  on  manufac¬ 
tures,  as  exemplified  in  the  recommendation  of  the  minimum 
principle  which  was  introduced  into  the  tariff  of  1816  by  Mr. 
Calhoun,  with  the  express  view  of  encouraging  the  manufacture 
of  American  cotton  in  order  to  exclude  India  fabrics  from  our 
market.  We  had  heard  a  complaint  that  the  bounty  of  the  Go¬ 
vernment  had  fallen  in  stinted  measure  upon  the  South  in  the 
expenditures  of  the  revenue ;  but  the  fact  was  that  the  public 
treasure  was  applied  in  that  section  to  the  establishment  of  forts, 
arsenals,  navy-yards,  hospitals,  custom-houses,  mints,  and  other 
public  structures,  quite  as  liberally  as  they  were  needed,  and 
certainly  without  any  idea  of  unjust  discrimination  ;  whilst,  in 


i 


12 


addition  to  these  expenditures,  enormous  amounts,  far  greater 
than  were  appropriated  to  any  other  section,  were  expended  in 
the  purchase  and  defence  of  Southern  territory. 

It  might  be  pertinently  asked  here,  in  reference  to  these  com¬ 
plaints,  did  the  South,  by  asserting  its  independence,  expect  to 
escape  the  necessity  of  raising  revenue  without  a  resort  to  im¬ 
posts  ?  Did  it  enter  into  their  plan  to  abandon  the  protection  of 
sugar,  the  manufacture  of  iron,  of  copper,  of  cotton,  wool,  lea¬ 
ther,  glass,  or  the  many  other  commodities  to  which  Virginia, 
Tennessee,  Georgia,  and  other  parts  of  the  South  are  now  devot¬ 
ing  capital,  with  anticipation  of  future  enlargement?  Would 
they  be  willing  to  hazard  the  experiment  of  refusing  the  demands 
of  those  States  on  this  subject — with  that  swift  remedy  of  seces¬ 
sion  acknowledged  as  a  power  in  their  organization  ? 

I  need  say  nothing  here  of  the  preservation  of  slave  institu¬ 
tions  as  a  motive  to  independence;  I  have  already  commented  on 
that  point ;  but  I  may  add  a  few  words  on  the  extension  of  sla¬ 
very  into  the  Territories,  which  has  latterly  been  presented  as  a 
question  of  injustice  done  to  the  South.  In  regard  to  that,  I  have 
to  remark  that  the  recent  demand  was  for  the  right  to  plant  sla¬ 
very  north  of  the  latitude  of  36°  30' — the  South  had  already 
secured  the  privilege  south  of  that  line,  where  every  foot  of  ter¬ 
ritory  was  by  law  open  to  the  admission  of  slavery. 

It  is  a  very  notable  fact,  that,  from  the  beginning  of  the  Go¬ 
vernment,  Southern  statesmen  have  refused  to  allow  slavery  to 
go  north  of  that  line  in  the  Territories.  The  Northwestern  ter¬ 
ritory,  embracing  all  the  States  north  of  the  line,  was  made 
inviolably  free  soil  by  the  demand  of  Virginia  and  the  support  of 
Southern  votes.  The  Missouri  Compromise  was  also  a  Southern 
measure,  and  its  passage  was  hailed  as  the  triumph  of  the  South 
over  the  North.  But  was  there  really  any  wish  to  plant  slavery 
north  of  that  line  ?  Is  there  a  man  of  the  South  who  would  have 
engaged  in  such  an  adventure,  if  the  prohibition  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise  had  never  been  made?  What  inducement  can  be 
imagined  which  would  persuade  a  Southern  planter  to  abandon 
his  productive  sugar  or  cotton  field,  and  to  transport  his  slaves 
into  the  rigorous  climate  and  to  the  ungenial  cultivation  of  that 
grain-producing  region,  which  is  thronged  with  free  emigrants, 
under  whose  competition  slave  labor  falls  to  a  mere  cipher  ? 

%  \ 


And,  after  all,  I  close  this  questioning  with  one  more  interro¬ 
gatory  :  Would  independence  help  this  privilege,  supposing  it 
were  of  any  value ;  would  the  Territories  be  open  to  slave  settle¬ 
ment  after  the  South  had  renounced  the  Union,  and  its  projected 
revolution — if  that  were  a  destined  event — had  become  a  success  ? 

Pursue  this  inquiry  through  all  the  details  it  may  suggest,  and 
when  you  have  exhausted  your  catechism,  you  will  find  that  the 
whole  of  these  supposed  motives  for  independence  are  utterly 
baseless :  that  they  are  simply  pretexts  and  nothing  more,  em¬ 
ployed  as  lures  to  entrap  the  ignorant  or  as  topics  to  feed  the 
sedition  of  men  who  welcome  anything  that  may  seem  like  argu¬ 
ment  to  sustain  a  foregone  purpose  of  revolt. 

The  pursuit  of  independence  by  these  Confederated  States 
has  a  very  different  aim  from  the  redress  of  such  shallow  griefs 
as  these. 

Sources  of  the  Rebellion.— True  Pathway  to  them  Indicated. 

Whoever  shall  be  able  hereafter  to  reveal  the  secret  history  of 
those  various  conclaves  which  have  held  counsel  on  the  repeated 
attempts  to  invade  and  conquer — or,  as  the  phrase  was,  liberate 
Cuba ;  whoever  shall  unfold  the  schemes  of  seizing  Nicaragua, 
of  aiding  revolution  in  Mexico,  of  possessing  Sonora,  will  make 
some  pretty  sure  advances  in  disclosing  the  true  pathway  to  the 
sources  of  this  rebellion.  The  organization  of  the  Knights  of 
the  Golden  Circle,  and  their  spread  over  the  country ;  their 
meetings  and  transactions  ;  who  managed  them,  and  set  them  on 
to  do  their  appointed  work  :  whoever  shall  penetrate  into  the 
midnight  which  veiled  this  order  from  view,  will  also  open  an 
authentic  chapter  in  the  history  of  this  outbreak. 

A  Great  Scheme  of  Dominion  in  this  Plot. 

There  was  a  great  scheme  of  dominion  in  this  plot.  The 
fancy  of  certain  Southern  politicians  was  dazed  with  a  vision  of 
Empire.  Years  have  been  rolling  on  whilst  this  brilliant  scheme 
was  maturing  in  their  private  councils,  and  at  intervals  startling 
the  nation  by  some  unexpected  eruption.  The  design,  which  lay 
too  deep  in  darkness  to  be  penetrated  by  the  uninitiated,  occa¬ 
sionally  rose  to  the  surface  in  some  bold  and  rash  adventure, 
which  either  the  vigilance  of  Government  or  the  imperfect 


14 


means  of  success,  which  the  necessity  of  concealment  imposed 
upon  it,  rendered  abortive.  The  Cuban  expeditions  miscarried ; 
the  Sonora  failed  ;  the  Nicaragua  forays  were  defeated — all  these 
chiefly  by  the  careful  watch  of  the  Government.  Large  sums 
of  money  were  squandered  in  these  fruitless  adventures,  and 
many  lives  were  lost.  Worse  than  these  mishaps,  eager  hopes 
were  disappointed,  and  long-indulged  dreams  dissipated.  It  was 
found  that  the  Union  was  in  the  way ;  that  the  Federal  Govern¬ 
ment  was  the  impediment,  and,  that  as  long  as  the  South  was 
hound  to  obey  that  Government,  frustration  of  these  cherished 
schemes  w7as  always  sure  to  attend  them.  This  experience  bred 
the  hostility  of  thwarted  ambition  against  the  Union,  and  turned 
the  thoughts  of  these  agents  of  mischief  towards  its  destruction. 

Overtures  to  the  Emperor  of  France. 

Then  came  the  next  movement.  There  is,  I  think,  a  better 
foundation  than  mere  rumor  for  saying  that  overtures  were  made, 
before  the  rebellion  broke  out,  to  the  Emperor  of  the  French  for 
support  and  patronage  in  the  scheme  ;  that  a  very  alluring  pic¬ 
ture  was  presented  to  him  of  a  great  Southern  Confederacy,  to 
embrace  the  land  of  cotton,  of  sugar,  of  coffee,  of  the  most  preT 
cious  tobaccoes,  and  of  the  choicest  fruits,  of  the  most  valuable 
timber  and  the  richest  mines — comprehending  the  Gulf  States, 
Cuba,  St.  Domingo,  and  other  islands,  Mexico,  Central  America, 
and  perhaps  reaching  even  beyond  into  the  borders  of  South 
America — a  great  tropical  and  semi-tropical  paradise  of  un¬ 
bounded  affluence  of  product,  secured  by  an  impregnable  mono¬ 
poly  created  by  nature.  This  large  domain  was  to  be  organized 
into  one  Confederate  Government,  and  provided  with  the  cheap¬ 
est  and  most  docile  and  submissive  of  all  labor ;  its  lands  were 
to  be  parcelled  into  principalities,  and  landlords  were  to  revel  in 
the  riches  of  Aladdin’s  lamp.  This  was  the'  grand  idea  which 
the  Emperor  was  solicited  to  patronize  with  his  protection,  for 
wrhich  he  was  to  be  repaid  in  treaty  arrangements  by  which 
France  should  enjoy  a  free  trade  in  the  products  of  French  in¬ 
dustry,  and  precedence  in  gathering  the  first  fruits  of  all  this 
wealth  of  culture.  Certainly  a  very  dazzling  lure  this  to  the 
good  will  of  the  Emperor ! 

It  is  said  the  Emperor  was  quite  captivated  with  the  first  view 


15 

of  this  brilliant  project,  but  on  riper  deliberation  was  brought  to 
a  pause.  The  scheme,  he  discovered,  stood  on  one  leg :  the 
whole  structure  rested  on  slavery,  which  was  much  too  rickety 
a  support  to  win  favor  in  this  nineteenth  century  with  the 
shrewdest  of  European  statesmen.  The  plot  was  “  too  light  for 
the  counterpoise  of  so  great  an  opposition.”  The  structure 
might  last  a  few  years,  but  very  soon  it  would  tumble  down  and 
come  to  nought.  And  so,  it  is  whispered,  the  Emperor  declined 
the  venture.  This  is  a  bit  of  secret  history  which  time  may  or 
may  not  verify.  From  some  inklings  of  that  day  which  escaped 
into  open  air,  I  believe  it  t*rue.  We  heard  various  boastings  in 
the  summer  of  1860,  of  French  support  to  the  threatened  sepa¬ 
ration,  and  there  were  agents  in  Europe  negotiating  for  it. 
During  all  that  preliminary  period,  there  was  a  great  deal  said 
in  the  South  about  reviving  the  slave  trade. 

The  Emperor  too  Wary.— The  Hook  is  next  Baited  with 
Abolitionism  for  England. 

When  the  Emperor  refused,  this  was  suddenly  dropped,  and 
England  was  then  looked  to  as  the  ally  in  the  coming  revolt. 
Abolition  England  was  to  be  won  by  another  strategy.  The 
Montgomery  Convention  inserted  a  clause  in  the  Confederate 
Constitution  forbidding  the  slave  trade ;  and,  oddly  enough  for  a 
Government  founded  on  the  central  idea  of  slavery,  the  com¬ 
missioners  who  represented  it  in  England,  were  authorized  to 
assure  the  British  Minister  that  it  was  really  the  old  Government 
which  was  fighting  to  perpetuate  slavery,  whilst  the  new  one  was 
only  seeking  free  trade  :  thereby  gently  insinuating  a  disinterested 
indifference  on  the  slave  question,  which  might  ultimately  come 
into  full  accord  with  England  on  that  subject. 

The  Rebel  Government’s  Platform  regarding  Slavery.—Its 
Convenient  Character. 

These  revelations  stand  in  strange  contrast  with  the  popular 
theme  that  has  rushed  so  many  into  the  rebellion.  As  the 
matter  now  rests,  the  rebel  Government  has  quite  platform 
enough  to  be  as  pro-slavery  or  as  anti-slavery  as  its  European 
negotiations  may  require ;  and  if  these  should  utterly  fail,  there 
is  nothing  in  the  constitutional  provision  to  interrupt  the  African 
slave  trade  a  single  day.  For  what  is  that  provision  worth  in  a 
region  where  neither  courts  nor  juries  would  execute  the  law  ? 


* 


16 


The  Grand  Tropical  Empire,  as  Originally  Planned.— Secondary 
Rank  assigned  to  the  Border  States. 

Whilst  this  grand  idea  of  tropical  extension  was  seething  in 
the  brain  of  the  leaders,  and  their  hopes  of  fruition  were  vivid, 
the  plan  was  to  confine  the  revolt  to  the  Cotton  States — or,  at 
least,  to  give  the  Border  States  a  very  inferior  role  in  the  pro¬ 
gramme.  They  might  come  in  when  all  was  adjusted,  but  were 
to  have  no  share  in  the  primary  organization.  Every  one  remem¬ 
bers  how  these  Border  States  were  flouted  in  the  beginning,  and 
told  they  were  not  fit  to  be  consulted,  and  that  the  only  advan¬ 
tage  they  could  bring  to  the  Southern  Confederacy,  was  that  of 
serving  as  a  frontier  to  prevent  the  escape  of  slaves.  But  when 
the  original  plan  was  found  to  be  a  failure,  the  views  of  the 
managers  were  changed ;  the  Border  States  became  indispensa¬ 
ble  to  any  hope  of  success,  and  the  most  active  agencies  of  per¬ 
suasion,  force  and  fraud  were  set  in  motion  to  bring  them  in. 
How  mournfully  did  it  strike  upon  the  heart  of  the  nation  when 
Virginia,  in  the  lead  of  this  career  of  submission,  sank  to  the 
humiliation  of  pocketing  the  affront  that  had  been  put  upon  her, 
and  consented  to  accept  a  position  which  nothing  but  the  weak¬ 
ness  of  her  new  comrades  induced  them  to  allow  her ! 

The  Pride  of  the  South  Unrighteous— Its  Resentment  Unjust— 
Their  Punishment  is  Doomed. 

Since  the  hope  of  this  broader  dominion  has  come  to  an  end, 
the  rebellion  is  still  persistently  pursued  for  the  accomplishment 
of  its  secondary  objects.  There  is  still,  doubtless,  some  resi¬ 
duary  expectation  that,  even  without  foreign  patronage,  in  the 
event  of  success,  this  desire  of  extension  of  territory  may  in 
time  be  gratified ;  but  it  is  no  longer  the  chief  object  of  pursuit. 
The  pride  of  the  South,  its  resentment,  its  rage  are  all  now  en¬ 
listed  in  pushing  forward  to  whatever  consummation  they  may 
imagine  to  be  attainable.  They  now  insist  on  independence  from 
the  very  hatred  their  disappointments  have  engendered.  But 
they  seek  it,  too,  as  the  only  method  left  for  the  maintenance  of 
that  class  domination  which  they  have  ever  enjoyed,  and  which 
they  are  now  unwilling  to  surrender. 


PAUL  AMBROSE. 


THOSE  THREE  SWORDS  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON-WHERE 
ARE  THEY? 


A  QUESTION  PUT  TO  TENNESSEE  BY  A  “JACKSON  DEMOCRAT”  OF  THE  OLD 

SCHOOL. 

A  month  or  two  ago,  Tennessee  gave  her  answer  to  the  question, —  Will 
Tennessee  follow  the  example  set  her  by  some  of  her  sisters ,  and  allow  herself 
to  be  made  a  puppet  in  the  hands  of  South  Carolina  ? 

What  that  answer  was  we  all  know.  What  it  was  to  be,  was  predicted  here 
(Philadelphia)  weeks  beforehand,  by  one  of  the  most  esteemed  of  our  fellow- 
citizens,  Col.  Watmough.  This  noble  old  veteran  of  the  war  of  1812,  whose 
good  fortune  it  was  at  that  period  to  be  a  sharer  in  the  work  of  covering  our 
flag  with  glory  at  both  extremes  of  the  Union — first  on  the  frontiers  of  Canada, 
and  last  at  New  Orleans — foretold  to  his  friends  here  what  the  vote  of 
Tennessee  was  to  be. 

When  asked  why  he  was  so  confident  on  this  point,  he  said:  “I  know  the 
men,  I  know  the  stuff  they  are  made  of.  At  New  Orleans,  the  most  exposed 
part  of  our  lines  was  on  the  extreme  left — the  swamps — where,  owing  to  the 
character  of  the  ground,  no  breastworks  could  be  thrown  up;  consequently 
there  was  danger  of  our  lines  being  turned  by  the  enemy  at  that  point.  There 
were  these  Tennesseans  posted;  and  there  did  they  stand,  in  the  mud  and 
mire  of  that  swamp,  up  to  their  knees,  up  to  their  hips,  and  without  a  single 
murmur.  Jackson  had  said  to  them  :  ‘  My  friends,  I  know  it  is  hard  to  bear, 
but  it  is  a  thing  which  has  to  be  borne;  our  country’s  flag  must  be  defended. 
Be  yours  the  glory  of  defending  it  at  this  point,  where  the  service  bears  hardest 
upon  those  who  render  it.’ 

“  Afterwards,”  continued  the  ^olonel,  “  I  saw  a  large  proportion  of  those 
noble  fellows  in  the  hospital,  prostrated  by  the  fevers  brought  on  by  that  ex¬ 
posure  ;  and  at  the  sight  of  them,  and  the  vivid  recollection  which  it  brought 
with  it  of  the  heroic  patience  with  which  that  exposure  had  been  endured  by 
them,  my  eyes  filled  with  tears.  This  is  the  ground  of  the  confidence  which  I 
feel,  as  to  what  the  vote  which  Tennessee  is  now  to  give,  will  be.  Her  voters 
are  the  sons  and  grandsons  of  those  same  men  whom  I  saw  standing  day  after 
day  in  that  Louisiana  swamp.  They  will  show  now,  I  have  no  doubt,  the  same 
devotion  to  our  country’s  flag  which  armed  their  fathers  and  grandfathers  with 
the  patience  there  exhibited  by  them.’* 

Men  of  Tennessee  !  read  the  following  words  of  Andrew  Jackson.  Having 
done  so,  put  this  question  to  yourselves:  Whilst  writing  those  words  in  his  last 
will  and  testament,  those  words  written  “  In  the  name  of  God,  Amen ,”  those 
words  bequeathing  in  that  holy  name,  the  three  “  swords  of  honor  ”  which  he 
had  received  from  his  grateful  countrymen, — had  he,  or  had  he  not,  in  his  mind 
that  same  conspiracy  to  rend  this  Union  asunder  and  establish  “a  Southern 
Confederacy,”  that  same  conspiracy  “to  destroy  the  only  good  government  on 
the  globe,”  the  actors  in  which  he,  ten  years  before  writing  that  last  will  and 
testament,  had  denounced  as  “wicked  demagogues,”  invoking  upon  them  the 
doom  of  “  Haman’s  gallows,”  and  predicting  that  their  “next  pretext”  would 
be,  what  we  all  now  know  that  it  has  been ,  “the  negro  or  slavery  question?” 
Put  this  question  to  yourselves,  I  say.  Put  it,  each  man  of  you,  to  his  own 
understanding  and  his  own  conscience.  And,  having  received  the  answer 
given  by  those  consciences,  then  let  our  country  hear  your  answer  to  my  in¬ 
quiry:  “Those  three  swords  of  Andrew  Jackson — where  are  they?” 


On  the  1st  of  May,  1833,  Andrew 
Jackson,  then  holding  the  highest 
public  trust  in  the  gift  of  our  country, 
wrote  a  private  letter  to  his  friend, 
the  Rev.  A.  J.  Crawford,  of  Georgia, 
which  letter  is,  in  part,  as  follows : 

“I  have  had  a  laborious  task 
here,  but  nullification  is  dead,  and 
its  actors  and  courtiers  will  be  re¬ 
membered  by  the  people  only  to  be 
execrated  for  their  wicked  designs 
to  sever  and  destroy  the  only  good 
government  on  the  globe ,  and  that 
prosperity  and  happiness  we  enjoy 
over  every  other  portion  of  the  world. 
Raman's  gallows  ought  to  be  the 
fate  of  all  such  ambitious  men ,  who 
would  involve  our  country  in  a  civil 
war  and  all  the  evils  in  its  train, 
that  they  might  reign  and  ride  on  its 
whirlwind  and  direct  the  storm.  The 
free  people  of  these  United  States 
have  spoken,  and  consigned  these 
wicked  demagogues  to  their  proper 
doom.  Take  care  of  your  Nullifers 
— you  have  them  amongst  you. 
Let  them  meet  the  indignant  frowns 
of  every  man  who  loves  his  country. 

“  The  tariff,  it  is  well  known,  was 
a  mere  pretext.”  (He  then  gives 
the  proof  of  this,  afforded  by  the 
recent  course  of  Calhoun,  and  his 
tools  in  Congress,  on  the  new  tariff 
bill.-;  which  they  voted  for,  although 
it  greatly  increased  the  duties  on 
coarse  woollens  and  other  articles 
consumed  by  the  South,  and  closes 
with  these  words  :)  “  Therefore ,  the 
Tariff  was  only  the  pretext ,  and 
Disunion  and  a  Southern  Con¬ 
federacy  the  retd  object.  The  next 

PRETEXT  WILL  BE  THE  NEGRO  OR 
SLAVERY  QUESTION!” 


On  the  7th  of  June,  1843,  the  same 
hand  which,  ten  years  previously,  had 
written  that  letter  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Craw¬ 
ford,  wrote  a  last  will  and  testament; 
which  document  is,  in  part,  as  follows  : 

“  In  the  name  of  God,  Amen.  I,  An¬ 
drew  Jackson,  Sr.,  being  of  sound  mind, 
memory,  and  understanding,  .  .  .  . 

do  make,  publish,  ordain,  and  declare 
this  my  last  will  and  testament: 

“First,  I  bequeath  my  body  to  the  dust, 
whence  it  comes,  and  my  soul  to  God 
who  gave  it,  hoping  for  a  happy  immor¬ 
tality,  through  the  atoning  merits  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  Saviour  of  the  world. 

“  Seventh.  I  bequeath  to  my  well- 
beloved  nephew,  Andrew  J.  Donelson, 
son  of  Samuel  Donelson,  deceased,  the 
elegant  sword  presented  to  me  by  the 
State  of  Tennessee,  with  this  injunction , 
that  he  fail  not  to  use  it,  when  necessary, 
in  support  and  protection  of  our  glorious 
Union,  and  for  the  protection  of  the  Con¬ 
stitutional  rights  of  our  beloved  country, 
should  they  be  assailed  by  foreign  enemies 
or  domestic  traitors. 

“  Eighth.  To  my  grandnephew,  An¬ 
drew  Jackson  Coffee,  I  bequeath  the  ele¬ 
gant  sword  presented  to  me  by  the  Rifle 
Company  of  New  Orleans,  commanded 
by  Captain  Beal,  as  a  memento  of  my  re¬ 
gard,  and  to  bring  to  his  recollection  the 
gallant  services  of  his  deceased  father, 
Gen.  John  Coffee,  in  the  late  Indian  and 
British  wars,  under  my  command,  . 
gallant  conduct  in  the  defence;  t* 
Orleans,  in  1814-15,  with  this  iny., 
that  he  wield  it  in  protection  of  th 
secured  to  the  American  citizen  unaei 
our  glorious  Constitution,  against  all  in¬ 
vaders,  whether  foreign  foes  or  domestic 
traitors. 

“  I  bequeath  to  my  beloved  grandso^ 
Andrew  Jackson,  son  of  Andrew  Jack- 
son,  Jr.,  and  Sarah,  his  wife,  the  sword 
presented  to  me  by  the  citizens  of  Phila¬ 
delphia,  with  this  injunction ,  that  he 
always  use  it  in  defence  of  the  Consti¬ 
tution  and  our  glorious  Union,  and  the 
perpetuation  of  our  Republican  system.” 


